Dweller in the depths
by Q hlr
Summary: In a desperate bid to save humanity, Aquaman utilizes cursed magic to submerge the entire planet in water; killing most of the DC universe and going insane in the process. The remaining DC heroes and villains live dispersed amid floating cities where they fight to survive. An amnesiac Atlantean now struggles to piece together what happened and restore hope to a new world.


CHAPTER ONE

A vast ocean. Blue water as far as the eye can see. A body flailing in the distance. A small one-manned ship slowly approaches. An unusually large number of whales seen in the area. A young woman pulls the body aboard. Barbara is in her 30's, 5'8". Short black frizzy/curly hair. The stranger she pulls aboard is a mutant male, 6'4". Appears to be in his 50's. Despite his age he seems to be in excellent shape.

BARBARA (straining): Holy shit…you're heavier than you look.

STRANGER (mumbling): Thank you…

BARBARA: You're an Atlantean.

STRANGER: Am I?

BARBARA: Well you don't exactly look like anything we have on land. Well…used to…have on land.

STRANGER: Used to?

BARBARA: Since the drowning.

STRANGER: I don't understand…

BARBARA: Have you ever come to the surface before?

STRANGER: I have memories… It's been a while I guess. Where's the nearest landmass?

BARBARA (surprised): There…there aren't any.

STRANGER: …

BARBARA: Where are you from?

STRANGER: I'm…not sure.

BARBARA (reaching into pouch): Here. Grab this. (she hands him a glowing green rock)

STRANGER (hesitating): What is it?

BARBARA (extends the rock towards him): It won't hurt you.

STRANGER (grabs the rock):

BARBARA (disappointed sigh): I thought you might be someone else. (extends her hand to receive the rock back)

STRANGER (hands her the rock): I'm sorry.

BARBARA: But I still don't know who you are or where you come from.

STRANGER: I suppose I don't know either.

BARBARA: What should I call you?

STRANGER: I…I honestly have no idea.

BARBARA: Well I found you in what used to be the Atlantic…let's settle on Atlan for now.

ATLAN: …

BARBARA (extending hand for shake): Hi Atlan, I'm Barbara.

BARBARA: Do you really not remember what happened?

ATLAN (shakes head):

BARBARA: Aliens. Like we had never seen before. We still don't know much about them. Just that they've been doing this for a very long time. They destroyed our Lantern…like he was some kid with a crackerjack ring. He was stark raving mad when we found him. Died shortly after.

There weren't many of them…but they were massive…and we were helpless. They killed the Manhunter. They even stopped the fastest man alive.

ATLAN: What about-

BARBARA: -The man of steel? Not even he could stop them. He did destroy their ship though. He couldn't save Earth but he made sure that these monsters wouldn't be able to destroy any other civilizations. He marooned them here. That was the last anyone ever saw of him. We've been looking for him ever since.

ATLAN: But how did you stop the aliens?

BARBARA: Were not exactly sure who did it…or if we would thank them…but the waters began to rise. Submerged the whole fucking planet. We're several thousand meters above sea level now. Billions died. And so did the aliens. God what a horrible way to go.

I saw my father…police commissioner of Gotham…drowning in the city he swore to protect. Till his last breath. No one should die that way. Cold and wet…and in the dark.

ATLAN: Water can be cruel.

BARBARA: No…whoever the hell thought drowning the entire planet was our best option was cruel.

ATLAN: …

ATLAN: Where is everyone now?

BARBARA: Scattered about. There are a few floating cities where the bulk of us live now. The biggest one is New Gotham. That's where we're headed now. I'm gonna show you to Bruce. He'll know how to help you.

BARBARA (messing with the ship): Help me get this started. It has an alternate energy source…we can be back there in less than a day.

ATLAN: How long has it been since all this happened?

BARBARA: Several years. You have some catching up to do.

NOW TRAVELING AT HIGH SPEED

ATLAN: So what were you doing out here when you found me?

BARBARA: Looking for the man of steel. Bruce is convinced he's still out there. Possibly hurt but still alive. He might be our only chance of surviving this water-world.

ATLAN: And is this Bruce…king of New Gotham?

BARBARA: Haha! No…but we trust him.

ARRIVING AT NEW GOTHAM – A MASSIVE FLOATING CITY, NUMEROUS SKYSCRAPER BOATS ARE CONNECTED TO FORM A COLOSSAL STRUCTURE WHICH HOUSES ROUGHLY 1 MILLION PEOPLE.

BARBARA: Welcome to New Gotham.

ATLAN (noticing heavy weaponry): You're very well armed.

BARBARA: Hmm? Oh yeah…the sea serpents. We're lucky enough to not see them that often. Simply put…we ended up trading in alien monsters for some monsters of our very own. With the rising waters came the giants from the depths. Lex suspects they're prehistoric; possibly in suspended animation until the influx of water which may have recalled them back from the trenches.

ATLAN: How big are we talking?

BARBARA: No one has made a complete measurement…but at least 300 feet…that's what we see come out of the water anyways. Some people think there's another 600 feet in addition to that.

ATLAN: Holy shit…how do you-

BARBARA (both now climbing aboard New Gotham): Normally we don't. They destroy everything and we rebuild. Only one of them has ever been killed.

ATLAN: By who?

BARBARA (smiling): Wond-

OSITO: -Barbara. You're back early.

BARBARA: I found someone. An Atlantean. Bruce will wanna talk to him.

OSITO: Where did you find him?

BARBARA: Adrift in the Atlantic. He doesn't remember much. Didn't even know about the Drowning.

OSITO: He wasn't aware that the entire planet has been submerged under water for the past several years?

BARBARA: Like I said-

ATLAN: -I can speak for myself.

ATLAN: And no, I wasn't aware.

OSITO: What is your name?

ATLAN: Don't even know my own name.

OSITO: Amnesia?

ATLAN: Maybe.

OSITO (walking away): Hmph.

BARBARA: That's Osito. Don't take it personally. He takes a while to warm up to people.

ATLAN: Little bear?

BARBARA: Long story. He has a troubled past and he re-invented himself. Gave himself a new name and now he's one of the good guys.

ATLAN: That easy huh?

BARBARA: I'm leaving out some key points but trust me…he's more than proven himself. He's like a big brother to me.

BARBARA (sadly): Now that the rest of my family is gone…

TRASH IS THROWN AT ATLAN

CROWD: It's an Atlantean! Fuck off! Go back to the seas fish bait!

BARBARA: We should probably get you out of sight. Water-dwellers aren't exactly welcome here.

A MAN FROM THE CROWD ATTACKS THE PAIR. BARBARA MAKES QUICK WORK OF HIM USING A WHIP AND SMASHING HIS FACE AGAINST A WALL.

BARBARA (screaming): Next person gets a broken arm!

BARBARA (to Atlan): Let's move.

OFFICE INTERIOR OF NEW GOTHAM. BRUCE AND LEX ARE IN A HEATED DISCUSSION. OSITO, TALIA, AND CROC ARE PRESENT. Bruce is in his 40's. At 6'3" he is an imposing figure but his physique is no longer what it used to be. The stress of running a city and devoting all his energy to the frantic search for the man of steel has aged him considerably. Lex is also in his 40's. At 6'2" he is smaller than Bruce but in excellent shape and still very youthful.

Talia is in her 30's and 5'9". She keeps in excellent shape and is entirely devoted to helping Bruce with his work/search.

Osito is immense. Also in his 40's he stands at 6'7" and is in peak physical condition. He also aids Bruce in his work/search.

Even larger is Croc. At 7'1" and mutated he appears very much to be a monster. He works as an enforcer for Lex.

BRUCE: Lex I appreciate your help, but you know I'm not going to agree to that.

LEX: How long do you think this will last Bruce? We're lucky to have even made it this far. If the serpents attack again-

BRUCE: -We'll be ready for them.

LEX: You'll be ready to survive but you won't be ready to win!

BRUCE: The last thing we need is more weapons. I just want what's sufficient to get us through another attack. What if these weapons fell into the wrong hands?

TALIA: Bruce is right. With the exception of the occasional pirate raid all the floating cities are living together peacefully. It'd be better to pool our resources to-

LEX (slams fists on table): More than two thirds of this stuff is mine. All the tech, all the materials belong to me. I saved it. I salvaged it.

OSITO: All this while Bruce was saving people. You may have given us comfort but Bruce gave everyone in New Gotham their lives. The people follow him because they trust him. That's why it didn't take long for someone to report that you were developing new weapons.

LEX: Listen you brute-

OSITO: -No YOU listen. You can't throw your weight around any more like you used to. You have no fortune and no influence. No one's putting up with your shit anymore.

BRUCE: Lex-

LEX: I've heard enough. Everyone hates me. I get it…and I don't care. Stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours.

BRUCE: That's not enough Lex. I'm shutting down your project and confining you to your ship.

LEX: These people will turn on you Bruce. And when they do…I'll be there to pick up whatever they've left of you.

LEX EXITS ROOM WITH CROC. CROC AND OSITO GLARE AT EACH OTHER.

CROC (to Bane, mockingly): Tiny.

BARBARA AND ATLAN ENTER.

BARBARA: Atlan. Bruce. Bruce. Atlan.

BRUCE: It's nice to meet you. We haven't heard from any Atlanteans in a while.

ATLAN: You're Bruce W****.

BRUCE (to Barbara): I thought he was an amnesiac?

BARBARA (shocked): He is. He doesn't even know his own name.

ATLAN (studying Bruce's face): I know you. The world's greatest detective.

BRUCE: Not anymore. But maybe together we can figure out where you came from. Why don't you tell me exactly what you remember?

ATLAN: It's mostly fragments. Stories. I'm not even sure the memories I have are my own.

ATLAN: I remember you taking off your mask. Revealing yourself to the survivors. You said…I don't need the bat anymore. _We_ don't need the bat anymore.

BRUCE: Were you there that day?

ATLAN: I don't think so. It's almost like these memories are being given to me.

ATLAN (grabs head in pain): Ouch. Oh wow this is a lot. This is to much. Ugh…agh…AHHHHHHH!

ATLAN HAS VISIONS OF FORMER HEROES.

LANTERN IS BEATEN ON THE GROUND NAKED WITH A FAINT GREEN GLOW AROUND HIM. THE RING IS DIM.

LANTERN (being cradled by unknown man): They're coming…they're coming!

UNKNOWN: Who's coming? Who's coming!?

LANTERN (sobbing): Spiders! Elephants! They don't stop.

LANTERN (laughing maniacally): They'll step on us… Like ants…we're like ants!

FLASH (screaming): They're telepathic! They know where I'm going before I do!

WONDER W**** SLICING THROUGH GIANT SPIDER-LIKE CREATURES.

WONDER (screaming): Where's Kal?! We need Kal!

MANHUNTER: These behemoths have stellar density. They're defying the laws of physics.

LANTERN (lightly laughing): Tell them I tried Johnn. Haha…I'm not afraid to die…I just wanna see Carol…

BAT (screaming, cradling dead Damien W****): AGGGHHHHHHHHH!

ATLAN BECOMES CONSCIOUS.

BRUCE: Atlan!

ATLAN EASILY PUSHES BRUCE BACK SEVERAL FEET.

ATLAN: AGHHH!

TALIA UNSHEATHES SWORD AND SWINGS. ATLAN CATCHES THE BLADE WITH HIS BARE HAND. OSITO AND BARBARA ARE POISED TO INTERVENE.

ATLAN (lifting his free hand to ward them off): I'm ok. (softer) I'm ok.

BRUCE (on his knees): All of you stand down. What the hell just happened?

ATLAN (panting): More memories. Someone is trying to communicate with me.

BRUCE: Who?

A MASSIVE GORILLA, EYES CLOSED, MEDITATING . . . EYES OPEN.

END ISSUE ONE


End file.
